According to a well-known process, numerous communication terminals, in particular mobile communication terminals, such as those commonly described with the term “smartphones”, are able to establish communications through a telephone communication network and through a data communication network.
However, it often happens that the quality of the telephone communication network does not match that of the data communication network, or that one of the two networks is unavailable.
Intrinsically, the establishment of a voice over IP communication through a data communication network causes a slight deterioration of the signal, owing to the fact that the emitted signal is divided into compressed packets and then reassembled.
To establish a voice over IP communication, using a mobile device, the network coverage must also be sufficient as the technologies used to establish these voice over IP communications use a lot of bandwidth, and typically require several megabits per second.
On the other hand, it also often occurs that the telephone communication network is not available, but internet access, for example through Wi-Fi, is. Typically, when the user is in transit in an airport or staying in a hotel abroad, he/she might have access to a data communication network, but not to a telephone communication network. Inside buildings, it often happens that the telephone communication network is not accessible, whereas the data communication network or internet through a Wi-Fi connection is available.
This situation often stems from a financial decision, as communications through a telephone communication network abroad often give rise to high roaming charges.
These examples, although not comprehensive, show that it can be, depending on the location, the situation and other parameters, preferable for the telephone communication to be established through the telephone communication network (“voice” mode) or through the data communication network (“data” mode using “voice over IP” techniques). It should also be noted that the person calling and the person answering do not necessarily share the same interests.
Therefore, the purpose of the invention is the establishment of telephone communications between two mobile terminals according to a mode selected by the person answering the call, regardless of the mode chosen by the caller, in a transparent manner for said caller.
To partially solve this issue, the state of the art discloses a method for the establishment of a telephone connection that is able to convert a telephone call signal initially emitted by a first communication terminal through a data communication network to a telephone call signal transmitted through a telephone communication network, and received by a second communication terminal through this telephone communication network. According to this method, the first communication terminal stores a communication application of the “voice over IP” type, and a voice over IP server establishes the communication between the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal. More specifically, the voice over IP server is connected to the first communication terminal through the digital communication network, and to the second communication terminal through the telephone communication network. Practically, after reception of the initial signal of a telephone call emitted by the first communication terminal, the server converts the signal into a telephone call signal sent to the second communication terminal through the telephone communication network. When the call signal is accepted by the second terminal, the server connects the two telephone call signals and the communication is established.
However, this solution does not allow the user receiving the call to choose the mode in which to establish the communication, although it might, in certain cases, be preferable to answer either in “voice” mode, or in “data” mode.
For instance, this issue occurs when the first terminal emits a telephone call signal through the telephone communication network, and the user receiving the call prefers or is only able to answer in “data” mode, as he/she only has access to sufficient coverage through the data communication network and not through the telephone communication network.
There is therefore a real need for a method enabling the answering user to choose the communication mode when a telephone call is received by him/her, regardless of the communication network—telephone or data—selected by the caller to emit the telephone call signal.
For this purpose, the present invention relates to a method to manage the reception of a telephone call signal by a called communication terminal, enabling the user of said called communication terminal to select, through a specific action on said terminal, the telephone connection mode.
Therefore, the method according to the invention implements a communication system architecture that comprises a server configured to provide a temporary number associated with the calling communication network, a voice over IP server and an application server configured to notify the user of the service of the existence of a telephone call signal being sent to him/her.